Slight drop in overall profits, Wii U up
2015 saw a major loss to the gaming industry with the death of previous Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata in July. When his successor Tatsumi Kimishima was announced, people weren’t entirely sure what to think.
On the one hand, he’s already proven his business skills and has held multiple senior positions in Nintendo, but on the other he’s never really had the public-facing persona Iwata, Miyamoto, or Fils-Aime have had.
Now that Nintendo has released its latest financial report, which is Kimishima’s first since becoming the head of Nintendo, we have a clearer picture of how the company is doing under its new leadership.
Compared to the same quarter last year, Nintendo has reported a very minor drop in yearly profits: 7.8 billion yen, versus the 9.3 billion yen profits reported in Q2 2014.
3DS sales are also down, but there’s not been anything noteworthy released on the platform in the last few months anyway, so it’s to be expected. Those sales might pick up with the releases of Tri Force Heroes, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon.
In other news amiibo are still selling incredibly well, because of course they are. Software-wise, Mario Maker has managed to shift 1.88 million copies since being launched last month, and Splatoon has managed to sell another 800,000 copies since the last report. The popularity of both of those games means for once the Wii U has managed to keep a steady pace with 1.19 million new sales.
With Nintendo Direct set to return before the end of the year and this report, it looks like Nintendo has handed over control of the company with relative success.
Nintendo’s first quarter under new CEO sees slight boost to Wii U sales [The Verge]
